Images

An 1889 photograph of a trading station or river 'factory' in the Belgian Congo. Such stations bought and sold commodities like ivory and rubber.

A selection of postage stamps issued by the Belgian Congo (1908-60) and its predecessor, the Congo Free State (1885-1908). Private Collection

A cartoon from a 1906 edition of Punch magazine highlighting the rapacious regime of Leopold II, King of the Belgians (here depicted as a snake), in the Congo Free State (Belgian Congo from 1908). Congo was ruthlessly...

One of the most remarkable builds of the ancient world, the metropolis of Caesarea Maritima was literally built from the ground up. In the latter years of the 1st century BCE, as a port city, it served Rome’s...

The Hittite Empire emerged in central Anatolia during the early second millennium BCE and developed into one of the major powers of the Late Bronze Age. Centered on Hattusa...

Enheduanna, high priestess of Ur, daughter of Sargon of Akkad, the first author in the world known by name. Cropped image from the Disc of Enheduanna, an artifact discovered in 1927...

The mid-19th century transformation of Europe was driven above all by the unification of Italy and Germany, which reduced long-standing political fragmentation...

Coronation of Maria Theresa as Queen of Hungary in 1741, oil on canvas, c. 18th century.

Portrait of Frederick II of Prussia, the future Frederick the Great, shortly after ascending to the throne, oil on canvas by Antoine Pesne, c. 1740s. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.

Portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria shortly after coming to power, oil on canvas by Martin van Meytens, c. 1744. Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.